Classics of Political Economy POLS 1415 Spring 2013

Mark Blyth Department of Political Science Brown University Office: 123 Watson Lecture Times: Tuesday and Thursday 2:30pm-3:50pm Office Hours: Thursday 10-12 and by appointment Tel: 3-1567 E-mail: [email protected]

Sections: TBA

This course is both historical and theoretical and overlaps with the disciplines of political science, history, economics, and political theory. It is partly an intellectual history and partly a genealogy of “the classics” of political economy. The course traces some of the most important classical statements of political economy regarding the nature of the economy and its relation to other spheres of social and political life. This is achieved through a consideration of some of the major contributions to the “political” study of the economy from the seventeenth century to the present; Locke, Ricardo, Smith, Rousseau, Mill, Marshall, Bentham, Marx, Keynes, Hayek, Schumpeter, Friedman, and others are examined.

The point of engaging this material in this way is to examine the notion of the economy as a non- political sphere of life. This is done through an exploration of the philosophical assumptions, normative commitments, and ideological stances of different writers, theories, and schools of thought. In doing so the course aims to illustrate how the taken for granted assumptions which underlie discussions of ‘the economy’ and ‘politics’ are mediated, contested, and constructed rather than, as they often appear, ‘natural’ and ‘self-apparent.’ By mapping the parallel growth of the liberal/capitalist economy and the liberal/democratic notion of the individual, who is both a product of, and a producer within, this economy, the course hopes to demonstrate both the political nature of economics and the economic bases of politics. In this way not only are we able to develop a better understanding of the world around us, we can also lay the foundations for a better understanding of contemporary applications of political economy in political science and in other social sciences.

Course Requirements: There are three pieces of work for course credit for each of the classes. There are two substantive papers (7-10 pages) due as per the schedule. Finally there is, of course, a final exam covering the whole semester’s work. This will be held on the 10th of May 2013. The breakdown on these components is as follows: Paper 1 30% Paper 2 30% Final Exam 30%. The remaining ten percent is class/section participation.

Books for Purchase: Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (New York: Oxford University Press 2013) Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1994) Albert Hirschman, The Passions and The Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before its Triumph (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1978) John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (Harcourt Brace 1964) John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (Hackett 1996) John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Hackett 1996) Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (Boston: Beacon Press 1984 or latest imprint) John Quiggin, Zombie Economics (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2010) David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (New York: Prometheus Books 1996) Jean J. Rousseau, Basic Political Writings (Hackett 1996) Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (New York: Harper Torchbooks 1942) Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (Hackett 1996) Robert Tucker, (ed.): The Marx-Engels Reader (New York: Norton 1978 or latest imprint)

2 Course Schedule

Part One: Constructing the Liberal World

Thursday January 24th Tuesday January 29th The Pre-Economy Inventing the Liberal World Aristotle: The Politics Locke J. Second Treatise of Government Bk. 1 i-xiii (pp. 51-92) Bk. 2 i-vii (All) (pp. 101-126) Polyani K. “Aristotle Discovers the Economy”

Thursday January 31st No Class – Conference Absence

Tuesday February 5th Thursday February 7th Inventing the Liberal World Inventing the Liberal World Hirschman A. The Passions and the Hirschman A. The Passions and the Interests pp. 9-66 Interests pp. 69-135

Tuesday February 12th Thursday February 14th Inventing the Liberal World Making the Liberal World Hume. D. Political Discourses Smith A. The Wealth of Nations in Medema and Samuels pp. 133-153 pp. 3-83

Say J. B. A Treatise on Political Economy in Medema and Samuels pp. 245-256

Tuesday February 19th Thursday February 21st University Long Weekend – No classes Making the Liberal World Smith A. The Wealth of Nations pp.166-205.

Tuesday February 26th Thursday February 28th Problems in Paradise? Problems in Paradise? Malthus: Essay on Population Ricardo D. Principles of Political 13-44 Economy and Taxation pp.17-45, 61-76, 89-108, 183-200, 266- 269, 278-299.

Tuesday March 5th Finding New Foundations? Mill J.S. On Liberty pp. 1-113

3 Paper 1 Given Out March 5th and is due back March 12th

Part Two: Contesting the Liberal World

Thursday March 7th - Man as He Really Is or Ought to Be? Rousseau JJ. The Basic Political Writings ‘The Discourse on the Origins of Inequality’ pp. 37-81 ‘The Discourse on Political Economy’ pp. 111-141.

Tuesday March 12th Wednesday March 14th The Mechanics of Materialism No Class – Conference Absence Marx K. In Tucker (ed.) Marx-Engels Reader, Das Kapital, Volume One pp. 303-361

Tuesday March 19th Thursday March 21st The Mechanics of Crisis Saving Liberalism from Itself Marx K. In Tucker (ed.) Marx-Engels Keynes J.M. The General Theory Reader: Capital Volume One pp. 4-23, 46-52, 89-135 pp. 388-403, 419-431, 439-465

No Classes March 26th and 28th – Spring Break

Tuesday April 2nd Thursday April 4th Saving Liberalism from Itself Challenging Liberalism’s History Keynes J.M. The General Theory Polyani K. The Great Transformation pp. 135-186, 245-257, 372-385 pp. 3-110

Kalecki M. “Political Aspects of Full Employment” Political Quarterly 1944.

Tuesday April 9th Thursday April 11th Challenging Liberalism’s History The Liberal Response Polyani K. The Great Transformation Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and pp. 111-177, 192-200, 223-236, 249-258b Democracy pp. 61-163, 235-302, 376- 406.

4 Part Three: The Empire Strikes Back

Tuesday April 16th Thursday April 18th The Austrians Hold Out No Class – Conference Absence Tuesday Nov 29th Ebeling, R. (ed.) The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle pp. 25-123

Von Mises Human Action Chapter XXXVI ‘The Crisis of Interventionism’ pp. 851-857

Tuesday April 23rd Thursday April 25th The Émigré Strikes Back Neoliberalism Hayek F. The Road to Serfdom Friedman M. “The Counter Revolution (All) in Monetary Theory,” pp. 1-21 Friedman M., “Inflation and Unemployment: the New Dimension of Politics” both in Monetarist Economics (1991) pp. 87-113.

Paper Two given out April 25th Due back May 1st

Tuesday April 30th Thursday May1st Neoliberalism Consolidated? An Austere Future? Quiggin J. Zombie Economics pp. 35-172 Blyth, Austerity, pp. 132-226.

Wiles M. H. “Rational Expectations as Counter- Revolution,” in Bell D., and Kristol I ., The Crisis in Economic Theory (1981) pp. 81-97.

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